Syria's President Bashar al-Assad has vowed to defeat the opposition and retake all the areas still under the rebel control. Assad addressed the nation Monday as his army made gains against rebel forces and jihadists in the Aleppo and Idlib provinces in the northwest. VOA's Zlatica Hoke reports the Syrian army seems ready to also clash with Turkish military forces supporting rebels in the region.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas appealed to the United Nations Security Council Tuesday not to accept a peace proposal put forward by US President Donald Trump, but left the door open to negotiations with Israel. VOA's Richard Green has more on Abbas's reaction to the Trump's plan, based on reporting by UN correspondent Margaret Besheer

U.S. President Donald Trump’s recently announced Middle East peace plan calls for Israel to keep control over all of Jerusalem, with its Jewish, Christian and Muslim holy sites. The plan envisions the capital of the Palestinian state in outlying suburban neighborhoods of Jerusalem such as Abu Dis, which is technically in the West Bank. Linda Gradstein reports for VOA from Abu Dis.

When the tear gas clears, and the chants and shouting become quiet, a bit of despair sometimes filters through protest camps occupying Iraq's city centers."At the beginning, more families came to the protests," said Ali Khafaji, 30, a volunteer medic and protester in Karbala, a sacred city to Shia Muslims about 100 kilometers south of Baghdad."But since the violence began, it is mostly just young men. People are disappointed."They are disappointed, he told us, because four months of calls for accountable government, equitable resource distribution and basic services like electricity, health care and education, have led to almost no change.  Ali Khafaji, center, a volunteer medic and protester, says demonstrations in Karbala, Iraq, will continue regardless of violent attempts to shut them down, Jan. 25, 2020. (H.Murdock/VOA)Their only option now, he says, is to keep protesting until their demands are met or they are forced out with violence. The deaths of protesters — roughly 600 counted so far — have yet to be investigated."They can burn our tents, and we will put up new ones," Khafaji said.
  Hopes from a distanceIn far-off Iraqi cities, young people of different religions and ethnicities also have pinned their hopes on these protests. Called the "largest anti-establishment movement" in Iraq's history, youth all over the country say they are rooting for the protesters fighting for what they say every Iraqi should already have.Abdulrahman, left, and his friend Ali say they agree with the protesters' demands but the streets of Mosul, Iraq, are too volatile to stage protests, Jan. 29, 2020. (H.Murdock/VOA)"When I went to the protests, I saw a future," said Abdulrahman, a 22-year-old engineering student in Mosul, who joined the protesters in Baghdad for three days last fall, as he and his friend, Ali, sat at a table studying for exams in a Mosul cafe.Mosul is in the north of Iraq and Islamic State militants ruled the city with brutal violence only a few years ago. The militants' rule in Mosul ended in a bloody nine-month-long war, and much of the city is still in rubble."I felt proud to be Iraqi for the first time in my life," Abdulrahman said. "Our capital is full of militias and corruption. Whatever happens next cannot be worse."
  Mosul  Since the protests began in October, many businesses in Iraq have grown poorer as people squirrel away money in case disaster strikes. Fears of renewed violence or government collapse are ...

President Trump's plan includes Israeli annexation of the Jordan Valley, the long strip of land that runs between Jordan and the West Bank. It makes up almost a third of the entire West Bank, and is one of the world's main sources of dates. Neither Israelis nor Palestinians who live in the area know exactly what the so-called "deal of the century" will mean for the area, but Israelis are optimistic and Palestinians are worried. Linda Gradstein reports for VOA from the Jordan Valley.

President Donald Trump unveiled his Middle East peace plan at the White House Tuesday, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his side. The plan includes redrawing the map of the West Bank to favor Israel while offering Palestinians a conditional pathway to statehood. Palestinians have rejected the plan and called on Arab neighbors to boycott. White House Correspondent Patsy Widakuswara has the story.